5 Reasons Why a Jekyll & Hyde Revival Is a Good Idea (No, Seriously)

byluckyonJanuary 31, 2012

We don’t want to go crazy with this or anything, given that 90% of “announced” projects never happen, but news broke over the weekend that a revival of Jekyll & Hyde could be in the works. Everyone who has actual taste balked. Our first thought? Bring on the craptacularity…

It’s Frank Wildhorn’s best score. Adored by Miss USA contestants and professional figure skaters the world over, the songs in Jekyll & Hyde are fully balls-to-the-wall. They won’t win any awards for nuance, but we dare you to argue with the inspirational key change in “Someone Like You” or to pooh pooh the soaring “This Is the Moment.” They’re not Sondheim, but there’s room on Broadway for a power ballad or eight, and if you love the unabashed and the unapologetic, this is so your show.

Gothic-themed musicals are always a good idea, even when they’re a bad idea. From Phantom to Dance of the Vampires to the delayed Rebecca, Broadway will never, ever stop trying for a big, successful musical full of darkness and cobwebs and a murderous masked man. In the very old-fashioned, gold-leafed world of Broadway, all that “Dark Shadows”-y dramz goes down pretty well. Because even when it sucks, it’s fun.

The show’s fans are fully nuts. They call themselves “Jekkies.” They embroidered David Hasslehoff’s face onto decorative pillows. They spent calculable percentages of their lives at the stage door. These are people who are always welcome in my personal circle of friends.

Constantine. If you’re going to do Jekyll & Hyde, you need an over-the-top rockstar to hold court. Enter Constantine Maroulis, who hopefully isn’t afraid of this show’s cheese factor.

The book is the book. The musical unfolds more or less as Robert Lewis Stevenson’s novel unfolds (kinda…). Bonnie & Clyde and Wonderland suffered because their respective stories didn’t hold together. Jekyll‘s intentions here are pretty basic: Guy loves girl. Guy develops a split personality. Guy loves another girl. Some people die. Curtain. It’s less complex, avoids the thorny issue of history, and is generally harder to mess up.

Did I ever tell you about when B was given tix to this….when Sebastian Bach was starring? It was RIDICULOUS. We got the worst church giggles and at intermission the old lady next to us said “I’m so relieved; I was sitting here thinking, “This is terrible,” but I see everything on Broadway and it seemed like everyone else was enjoying it so much.”